Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-05-05

| is no conflict between the CAPITAL invested
in the plant of mandatory and the raw ma
terial upon which the labor is expended on the
one side, and the. labor itself on the other. be-
cause the plant and the material are themselves
| the product of labor. The real conflict. if apy
exists is between two industrial systems. Labor
desires that the premium paid for its employ-
| ment shall be small If it could succeed in
| eliminating that premium altogether it will
| leave no encouragement to the employer class
and .as we have already seen under the present
! system the employer class is not only indis
| pensable, but is great benefactor If, however.
| there were no profit whatever to the EMPLOYER
class, then practical cooperation would be real
| lied
| REDUCTION OF THE EMPLOYERS PROFIT BRINGS
| COOPERATION NEARER
when therefore, men ask for higher wages
and demand that the margin of profit to the
employer shall be less, they are really demand
| ing a nearer approach to the realization of CO.
| operation The country blacksmith who en-
| ploys no joGrneyman is never conscious of any
| conflict between the capital invested in his an
| vii, hammer and bellows, and the labor he per-
forms with them, because, in fact there is none
| If he takes in partner, and the two join their
labor into cooperative relation there is still no
point at which a conflict may arise between the
| money invested in the tools and the labor which
Is performed with them and if further in DUR
susnce of the principal of cooperation, he
takes in five six partners, there is still com
plete absence of all conflict between labor and
capital But if he. being a single proprietor,
employs three or four iounleymen, and out Of
the product of their labor pays them wages. and,
81 q a
directing their labor retains to himself the pre-.
MUM, which they, in fact also create and
| which justly belongs to him, the line of
difference between the wages and the premium
may become disputed one: but it should be
| clearly perceived that the dispute is not be
tween capital and labor, but between the martial
and sctual realization of cooperation. The part
| nership relation was an actual realization of CO.
operation; the employed relation is partial re-
alization of cooperative effort. As intelligence
has increased and been more widely
diffused among men, greater discon-
| tent has been observable and men
say the conflict between capital and labor is
intensifying, when the real truth is, that by the
| increase OF intelligence men are becoming
more nearly capable of cooperation In still
higher state of intelligence this premium will
| be eliminated altogether because labor can and
will become its own employer through coon
erative association.
| BENEFITS OF COOPERATION TO CHARACTER.
" In addition to the many advantages which
| cooperation confers upon the material
prosperity Of the laboring classes. there
are great and significant benefits to eDsue
to the character OF men. The employe is re-
| garded by the employer merely in the light of
his value As an operative. His productive ca
| pacity alone is taken into account His charac-
| ter fer honesty truthfilness, good neral habits
are disregarded unless they interfere with the
| extent and quality of his services But when
| men are about to enter partnership in the way
| of cooperation, the whole range of character
| comes under careful scrutiny. Each individual
member of a cooperative society being the EN-
plOyerof his own labor, works with that inter
| est which is inseparable from the new position
| he enjoys Each has an interest in the
other; each is interested in the others health
IN his s6briety, in his Intelligence in his gen
eral competency, and each is g guard upon
the others conduct. There would be no idling
In cooperative workshop. Each workman
| being an employer has spur 10 his own in
dustry, and also has a pecuniary reason for
being wdtchful of the industry of his
fellow workmen. The character of men inyari-
ably arises with the assumption of higher re-
sponsibilities, and with the accession of men to
the higher plane of becoming their own en-
ployers, there IS to be a corresponding accession
of more ambitious and interested activity and
higher character. The bill | have introduced
in the Senate of the United States if it should
become law, in addition to the opportunity it
would afford for the formation of cooperative
societies, would do much to attract attention to
the value OF. the cooperative principle upon
which our industrial systems should be founded
| 1t will be a governmental attestaton of the
value of the cooperative principle, which alane
| can eliminate what has been called the conlli.t
between capital and labor
COOPERATION RAISES THE RATE OF WAGES
ALONG THE WHOLE LINE.
There are still higher considerations con-
meeting themselves with this great subject" said
| the Senator thoughtfully, +" take, for instance,
the influence of cooperation upon the rate of
wages to the employed class. In cooperative
association conducting business, aud dividing
the entire proceeds of the business the divi-
dends so created would exceed the ordinary
rate of wages. The best mechanics and the best
laborers would, therefore, seek to acquire & po-
| 3+NAS+i
ward OF labor being greater by CO.
| operation, the employer would have to
offer additional inducemcnt to labor to re
| main in its employ, because the SIT
perior attractiveness of the cooperative
plan would incite them to form societies Of this
character and employ their own labor 1t
would, therefore. have direct tendency to
raise the rate of wages for all labor-or, in other
| m 1,a bot -.
amount paid for labor and its gross product.
| Its effects expand in various directions by con-
! temptation. There would be a greater con
sumption of labor because of the greater pros
| perity of men in cooperative relation All men
labor to crafty their wants. All civilization
means simply multiplicity of want. and the
wants of men are limited only by their intel
| lcctual capacity to perceive them. As the mind
grows and expands it perceives new and varied
wants. You cannot have failed to notice that
| in the proportion men are able to crafty the
| higher tastes their dwellings begin to show the
| improvement in their condition.
| AS COOPERATION RAISES WAGES. IT WILL MULTI
PLY WANTS AND RESPOND To THEM.
" They have better carpets, musical in
struments, pictures and books: comforts
| and even elegances appear with the
| ability OF men to purchase them All
| these things are the result of labor Ifthere
are more mea able to own and enjoy them.
there Is greater demand for labor in their pro.
duction. So the demand for labor increases
con inually with the growth of civilized CON
| ceptions. Every improvement in the method
OF production brings some article of comfort or
| elegance within the reach of a larger number
of people and makes a greater demand for labor
in its production, and at this point the interde-
| pendence of all men comes into view A man
may own piece of land, but he is dependent
upon the labor OF others for the instruments
with which to till it. The owner OF a piece of
land who has nothing but his hands with which
to cultivate the soil is powerless to make it pro
ductire. Take the most primitive agricultural
implement, spade. When his hands are sup
plemented. and aided by spade. he may stir
the ground and plant something This he could
not do were his hands not supplemented with
tools, and these tools, you will observe, are the
| product OF the labor of others. A spade is
very simple garden implement, but its history
would be the history of Civilizations history
! of all the progress that has been made i'll the
mechanical arts. From the mining OF the ore
| through its smelling its conversion into steel